RobC

I've been using Fuelly to track my fuel usage and during my daily driving which consists of very few highway miles I was averaging 16.4 MPG.

I just got back from my first road trip for Christmas where I drove from Atlanta to western Kentucky. Per the car's computer, I averaged 22.9 MPG on the way up and 24.0 MPG on the way back (75-85 MPH). I got stuck in rush hour traffic on the way out which explains the discrepancy. Also I didn't hit the advertised 27 MPG because I had to drive through the Tennessee mountains. But on a flat road the car has no trouble achieving 30 MPG per the computer. Engine/tranny were in Dynamic for the whole trip.

My last 2 fuelly stops (which doesn't include the majority of the trip back) was 20.9 (on the way up) and 20.4 MPG (includes driving around KY). I'll need to fill up tomorrow to see what the mileage is based on actual fill up.


The S6 is a really nice road trip car. Set the suspension to AUTO to soak up the highway bumps, turn on the seat massage when you've been sitting there for hours, seat/steering wheel heater while it's 34 degrees out and snowing, B&O cranking out the tunes.... was one of the more enjoyable road trips despite the weather. Oh and tons of torque to let you pass people in overdrive 7th gear without breaking a sweat :P

gs4rx3

Those MPG performance stats are solid for the engine size - thanks for sharing! Could you sense the cylinder deactivation when you achieved constant speed on the highway? Or did you just notice it on the dash? And when you needed to punch the car to pass someone while in 4 cylinder mode, did the tranny/engine hesitate to kick down? Or was it fairly seamless given that you were in dynamic mode?

RobC

I tried to use the cruise control as much as I could during this trip and I kept the center screen on the economy screen so I could see the instantaneous mileage as well as the green bar to indicate cylinder deactivation.

I would say that 50% of the time I could detect the change, and it was almost only when going from 4-cylinder to 8-cylinder operation. The change manifests as what I would compare to a stumble or a misfire. I suppose if you weren't a "car" person you might not notice as it's fairly subtle.

The car tends to be very conservative with downshifts and I tend not to punch it hard due to the available torque. There is little correlation between cylinder (re)activation and gear kick down. It's quite easy to get the motor back into 8 cylinder mode.

HyperS4

Its extremely imperceptible to know when the cylinder deactivation occurs. The car will kickdown and haul *** whenever you need it to.

However, anyone who expects to get the MPG from the window sticker needs a reality check. I have been driving my car in nonstop traffic since Ive had it. My MPG average since new is 16.7

DeerHunter

That's not terrible, considering the output and weight of the car. My B6 S4 Cabriolet averages about 18 mpg, and that's a car that's 200 lbs lighter and down 80-100 hp.

Wolfepack88

Hyper, what setting is supposed to provide the best mpg in theory, comfort or auto?

noah123

May be this info is in the manual. can someone please post a PDF of the S6 manual?

HyperS4

There isnt anything in the manual that comes out and says which setting to put it in for the best MPG. That would get the EPA on their heads for the stats on the window sticker.

However, putting the car in comfort and auto should yield the best MPG settings. In Dynamic, the transmission goes into Sport mode holding gears longer and also gives about 30% more throttle input.

That being said, I did a tank on auto and a tank on dynamic back to back. In the exact same driving conditions for both tanks, I only got about 20 miles better range out of auto. I just keep it in dynamic all the time now.

Wolfepack88

Thanks Hyper, always on the mark!!

RobC

FWIW, my last 4 fill ups with mostly highway driving:

20.9, 20.4, 22.6, 22.1 MPG. Prior to that I was averaging low 16's with mostly city driving.